


In the Cards

by Celandine



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling
Genre: Drama, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Rimming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-03-03
Updated: 2009-03-03
Packaged: 2017-10-12 11:01:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/124171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celandine/pseuds/Celandine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry reads the cards for his future.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Cards

**Author's Note:**

> Hobbits give presents to other people on their birthdays, and that is why I wrote this. Characters include Harry and Dumbledore, plus a number of het and slash pairings, but NOT Harry/Dumbledore!

"This can't be real."

Harry looked around. A large dark polished table stood before him, with a deck of cards on it, just within his reach. On the far side of the table was Albus Dumbledore, looking exactly as Harry remembered him,: twinkling eyes under half-moon spectacles, long white beard, colourful robes, and all. Harry shook his head to clear it.

"It's not real," he repeated stubbornly.

"What _is_ reality, Harry?" asked Dumbledore gently. "In one sense, of course, you are correct. But in another this is very real indeed. What you see is merely your brain's attempt to grasp a reality beyond its usual ken. Do you know what those are?" He nodded at the cards.

"Er. Tarot cards?" The pattern on the back of the deck looked exactly like the cards that had been in Professor Trelawney's classroom.

"Very good. And for what are they used?"

"For telling the future. But Firenze said that human methods of divination were all just foolishness," Harry protested, "and Hermione agreed."

Dumbledore shook his head. "You know better than that. You and I each once heard Sibyll Trelawney make a true foretelling prophecy. The traditional forms of divination may only occasionally produce genuine results, but that does not mean that they are not sometimes valid, if only as a guide."

"So I'm supposed to read the cards?" Harry struggled to understand. "How? We always had books to consult in Divination classes."

"Turn one of them over and see."

"The top one?"

"It doesn't matter at the moment. Perhaps you should look at several, in fact." Dumbledore smiled. "It might be easier to explain."

Harry picked up the deck and pulled out three cards, flipping them over one by one onto the shining wood.

"It's _me_ ," he said, leaning closer to look. "They're all pictures of me with different people."

"Different futures. You have a rare chance, Harry. There are many possible futures in store for almost everyone, but very few ever have the opportunity to glimpse what lies ahead of them and make a choice. Perhaps that is just as well. Doing so is as much burden as blessing."

"Burden?"

"Each card will show you only one scene, or at most two or three, from that possible future. You cannot know all of the consequences of your choice; you'll have to make it based on imperfect information. Moreover the cards may not always show you the best or the worst moments of that future."

"What good is all this then?" asked Harry, a little irritated. "It doesn't sound much better than not knowing at all."

"Browsing through your futures opens up possibilities you might not have been able or willing to recognise otherwise," said Dumbledore. "Isn't that worthwhile?"

"Oh." Harry looked down. "I suppose so. So I have to look at _all_ of these cards?" The words came out in a near-wail; it was a substantial stack that lay before him, more than a single deck's worth, now that he looked more closely.

"No, you can look at however many you want before choosing. If you see a possible future that you are certain is the one you want, you can select it right then without looking at any other alternatives. Or you could pick a card at random and not think about it at all. The choice is entirely yours. Once you have chosen, however, the decision is irrevocable."

"Can I take as long as I like to decide?"

"Time has no real meaning here. But you _will_ have to reach a decision eventually; you cannot postpone it forever." Dumbledore looked grave. "Perhaps you should simply begin and see what it is you see, and not worry about choosing just yet."

"All right." Harry gathered up the cards again and shuffled them a few times. After tapping them into a neat stack, he turned over the top card and looked at it.

* * *

 _Harry stood in formal robes, his expression a blend of nervousness and anticipation and joy. A red-haired figure moved toward him. Their hands reached for each other, clasped, and they turned together to face an older witch who solemnly began the marriage ceremony._

* * *

" _What_?" Harry shook his head in bafflement.

"What did you see, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

"I was getting married... but not to Ginny. To her brother Percy." Harry shook his head again. "I looked really happy, though," he added doubtfully.

Dumbledore nodded. "I take it you have never previously considered that you might find happiness with another wizard?"

"Not exactly _never_ considered," said Harry in some embarrassment. Even if this was some kind of odd dream, and Dumbledore just a figment of his own imagination, he felt awkward explaining. "I've, um, thought about men that way occasionally, it was just... _Percy_. _He_ certainly isn't someone I had thought of like that."

"Perhaps, then, you should," suggested Dumbledore, "since he is one of your possible futures. But you have many others as well. You need not make any final assessment or decision just yet."

"No." Harry was still finding the first card disturbing. "You said these are all _possible_ futures, but are they _likely_ futures? I mean, am I going to turn over a card to find myself shacked up with--" his mind searched wildly for the most unlikely person he could think of, "--Lucius Malfoy?"

Dumbledore chuckled. He pulled out his wand, conjured a chair, and sat down, still smiling. "If there's any possibility of that in your future life, Harry, then you might indeed see such a card, but that's not to say that what you see in the picture will make you want to choose it."

"Certainly not," said Harry fervently. He drew his own wand from his pocket. A chair seemed like a very good idea.

"On to the next one, I guess," he said as soon as he was seated.

* * *

 _Ginny lay in a large bed, cradling a baby. The picture broadened, and there stood Harry, holding the hand of two little boys and lifting them up one by one to kiss their mother and little sister._

 _The image flickered. Ginny and Harry were the ones in the bed now, looking somewhat older, their backs toward each other. Ginny was reading a novel, while Harry appeared asleep._

 _It flickered again. The five of them were at the Burrow. It was clearly Christmastime, with a huge tree in one corner and bits of wrapping paper everywhere. All of the Weasleys were there, with various spouses and children. Harry himself looked happy, except when he glanced at Ginny, and then something in his face flickered into confusion._

* * *

" _That_ time I saw Ginny," said Harry with a certain amount of smugness.

"It was a good vision, I presume," said Dumbledore.

"Yes. I saw us with three children, and spending Christmas with Ginny's family." Then Harry frowned a little. "But we didn't always seem to be getting along that well. We weren't kissing, or holding hands, or even talking much to each other, although I saw us in bed together."

"Married life isn't perfect, Harry," Dumbledore pointed out. "Surely you saw your aunt and uncle disagree from time to time, and Arthur and Molly Weasley also, when you visited them."

"I know, I know. But this seemed different. Maybe just because it was _me_." Harry laughed self-consciously. "Anyhow, on to the next one, I suppose."

* * *

 _Neville worked in an enormous greenhouse, Harry next to him, helping him. Neville's face was alight with joy as he dealt competently with each plant, and the same joy remained when he looked at Harry and reached out to touch his hand._

* * *

 _Laughing, Hermione put her arms around Ron and Harry's necks as they carried her between them through a red-painted front door._

* * *

 _Luna sat in a huge squashy chair, her legs curled a little awkwardly under her, one hand resting on her very pregnant belly. Harry sat on the floor by her knee, reading aloud from a copy of the_ Quibbler _. Behind him a tabby kitten stalked a piece of string._

* * *

 _A naked man knelt on a bed. His head was down, face obscured by dark hair. Harry kissed a trail along his back, down to the crack of his arse, and then mounted him. When their lovemaking had finished in ecstasy, the other man rolled over. It was Snape._

 _The image flickered. Snape was in a leather armchair, reading a potions journal. On a sofa nearby, Harry sipped from a glass of whisky and filled in a clue in the crossword puzzle. His hair was going grey._

* * *

 _Harry was playing Quidditch, wearing the orange of the Chudley Cannons. He caught the Snitch and landed with an enormous grin on his face. His teammates cheered him, but on the opposing team, the Magpies, Ginny scowled._

* * *

 _With his face twisted, Draco Malfoy yelled at Harry. Harry yelled back, but when Draco tried to leave the flat they clearly shared, Harry stopped him and kissed him._

* * *

On and on they went, one card after another. Most of them had only a single scene, although a few had two or three. As he continued, Harry felt increasingly bewildered. _Snape_? What under the sun was he doing with _Snape_? Even if the sex _was_ amazing, to all appearances. And why would he and Ginny be playing on different Quidditch teams? He hadn't even known that Ginny wanted to play professionally. He looked over at Dumbledore.

"I don't know how to choose," he said helplessly. "In most of them I look happy, but not always for the same reasons. Sometimes I see children, sometimes not, but just because I don't see them doesn't mean I might not have them in that future, does it?

Dumbledore shook his head. "Do you _want_ children?"

"Yes, I think so. Not straight away, mind you, but it seems like part of being a real family to me."

"To be certain of having them you would need to choose a future in which you do see children, of course."

Harry sighed. "I know. But I don't always look as happy as I think I should be, in those futures. And I looked surprisingly happy with some people I would never have expected. Like Draco, or Luna, or Snape."

He half-expected Dumbledore to correct him on that last, to say, " _Professor_ Snape," as he used to do, but Dumbledore said nothing of the sort, only gazed at Harry, as if waiting for him to say something else.

"It doesn't really matter in the end, does it?" Harry said at last. "I mean, whatever future I have, what matters most is what _I_ make of it. I could be happy with a lot of different people, in different ways."

"You could," agreed Dumbledore. "So what will you choose?"

Harry hesitated for a moment, although he had in fact already decided. "I assume I won't remember any of this, afterward." He scarcely waited for Dumbledore's nod of assent. "So I'm going to shuffle the cards again, and then choose one at random. I'll take my chances, and trust myself to find happiness, whatever the results are."

Dumbledore smiled. "An excellent choice."

Taking a deep breath, Harry shuffled carefully. He could not quite help his fingers shaking as he plucked a card at random from the deck and turned it over, leaning close to see what his future might be.


End file.
